Developing Your Brand Story

Ask a company how it got its start, and the same thing will happen every time — you’ll get a story. Whether your company began with an idea for a product, the desire to fill a niche, or a passion for entrepreneurship, being able to hone in on the why’s and how’s of your journey is important for telling a story that your audience can connect with emotionally.

Famed businessman and attorney Robert Shapiro said:

“Stories may have that power of keeping the organization together which encourages continuous change. Having a common foundation, a common set of beliefs, enables people to interact in ways that are not chaotic. By determining some fundamental core understanding — a commonly recognized truth, a story — you could really have a pretty good template for a creative institution.”

Not sure how to tell your story yet? Here are some simple questions you can ponder to get your narrative juices flowing —

What are your origins? Where have you had to go and what have you had to do to get where you are now?

How did you come up with the idea for your products or services and why are you passionate about them?

What service are you providing or product are you selling, and how is it different from similar offerings in your industry?

Who is going to pay for these products or services? Who is your ideal customer?

What’s the emotional connection? Sure, your customer needs what you have to offer, but why buy from your company? Is there a detail that’s materialized from this exercise so far that you could use to create an emotional connection?

When your customer is able to connect an emotion to your goods or services, they will keep coming back, over and over again.